A court in southern China on Friday found a prominent feminist journalist guilty of endangering national security and sentenced her to five years in prison, Beijing’s latest crackdown on civil society. A labor activist was sentenced to three years and six months in prison for the same offense.
The activities that led to the arrests and convictions of Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing included organizing discussions, providing support to other activists, and receiving overseas training. The subversion charge and verdict handed down by the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court were confirmed by Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Experts said the legal proceedings against Ms Huang and Mr Wang were severe even by Chinese standards and showed that the space for independent discussion of social issues was shrinking.
“We’ve seen China adopt a near-zero tolerance approach to even the most moderate civil society activities,” said Thomas Kellogg, executive director of the Georgetown Asia Law Center. “This case is an example of that.”
Huang, 35, is a former independent journalist who became a key voice in China’s #MeToo movement, helping women report cases of sexual harassment. She later traveled to Hong Kong and wrote about anti-government protests there. Mr Wang, 40, is a long-time activist on behalf of workers and people with disabilities. He also helps give #MeToo victims a voice.
Ms. Huang and Mr. Wang were arrested in 2021 and endured an unusually lengthy two years of pretrial detention. The trial last September lasted one day.
Although China’s Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that the maximum waiting period is three months, which can be extended by another three months in special circumstances, the verdict has still not been pronounced after nine months.
Experts say the national security crime of “inciting subversion” carries harsher penalties than other charges typically leveled against activists, suggesting the government is actively suppressing discussion of issues such as women’s and workers’ rights. Wang Yaqiu, research director for Hong Kong, China and Taiwan at Freedom House, a Washington-based nonprofit, said that more than a decade ago, forums on such topics were tolerated and even encouraged.
“Anything the government doesn’t like will be framed as a challenge to the Communist Party and a national security charge,” Ms. Wang said.
Details about the case have not been made public. But many legal documents related to it have been posted on GitHub pages run by supporters and confirmed by China Human Rights Defenders, a coalition of human rights groups. A spokesman for the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court declined to provide any information when reached by phone on Friday.
According to the indictment shared by supporters, the charges against the two were based on a number of actions, including hosting social gatherings and participating in overseas online courses on “nonviolent movements.” These gatherings usually focus on discussing issues Examples include the #MeToo movement, gay rights and workers’ working conditions, friends of the defendants said.
Huang became a central figure in China’s #MeToo movement in early 2018 when she set up an online platform for people to post their experiences of sexual harassment. She also organized investigations that found sexual harassment was widespread and went unpunished, both at universities and in the workplace.
The movement has since been driven underground as state censors suppress online discussion and stifle public support. The party accused feminists of aiding so-called “foreign hostile powers” and officials warned some activists they would be considered traitors if they spoke out.
Attorney Wang focuses on providing education and legal support to workers suffering from occupational diseases and physical disabilities. Recently, he moderated discussions where activists could share their struggles and support each other.
Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, the Communist Party has punished activists, lawyers, intellectuals and even tycoons who called for free speech and political rights. Dozens of activists face lengthy pretrial detention and harsh prison terms.
But Friday’s ruling shows a growing awareness of the dangers to public order.
“In the past, people accused of inciting subversion would often say something about democracy or the rule of law,” said Freedom House’s Ms. Wang. “Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing are very focused on helping victims and cultivating communities for marginalized people. They don’t talk about politics.
Authorities detained the pair at Mr Wang’s home in Guangzhou the day before Ms Huang planned to leave China to study for a master’s degree in gender studies in the UK. According to Chinese human rights defenders, both men were held for 47 days without access to lawyers before any formal notification of their arrests was issued to family and friends.
Dozens of friends of Mr Wang and Ms Huang were interrogated after their arrest, and many were forced to sign testimonies against them, according to Chinese rights activists.
Shortly after Mr. Wang was taken away, his father made a video appealing to the authorities.
“My son is not a bad person,” his father, Wang Zhixue, says in the video. “He has made a lot of contributions to society through public welfare undertakings. What harm will he cause to society?
At the end of 2019, Ms. Huang was detained by police in Guangzhou on charges of “seeking to cause trouble,” a less serious charge that the government has used in the past to suppress activists like her.
She was detained for three months. “This is Xueqin, I’m back,” she wrote in a message to a friend after her release in 2020. “One second of darkness will not blind anyone.”
